Combination breather pipe and oil can opener



March-24,1936. H. F. PLASTER COMBINATION BREATHER PIPE -AND OIL CANOPENER Filed April 2, 1935 "ll ....lii

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v gmc/who@ m17T/nlug Zei 1 .Patenti-.a Mar; 24,' 1936 'PATENT OFFICECOMBINATION BREATHER PIPE AND O CAN OPENER4 i Henry F. Plaster, Socorro,N. Mex., assig'nor of forty-nine per cent Alvan S. Fair, Socorro,

vN. Mex.

Application April 2, 1935,' Serial o. 14,337 2 Claims.. (C1. 1844-105)This invention relates to devices for supplying 4oil to crank cases ofautomobile engines, and

particularly to those devices which in practice are associated with thebreather pipe so as to permit -5 the oil tov iiow from a can or othercontainer through the breather pipe into the crank case.

y 4When a motorist buys oil at a service station it is dispensedusually, in order to avoid spilling,

through a quart measure, whether the oil be in bulk or canned oil. Agreatmany stations use .the swing spout measure which, when the spout isup after being' used, will have at least two ounces of oil left in themeasure.l This settles in the opening of the spout and then contaminatesl5 or mixes with oil which is ,being subsequently dispensed, so thatsometimes an expensive grade of oil is contaminated by an inferior gradeand sometimes an inferior `grade of oil becomes mixed slightly with asuperior grade of oil. Furthermore, where the attendant opens asealedcan of oil and pours the oil into a dispensing can, there is'alchance of the attendant switching the oil ani-as a matter of fact,dispensing an inferlor grade of oil for the good grade, for which he hasbeen paid. v The general objectof my invention' is to pro-- vide an oilcan opening means which also constitutes an extension of the breatherpipe of the engine or which is disposed around or within the breathervpipe and 'which extends upwardly from the breather -pipe to any desiredheight and is l adapted to receive the lower end of a can of goil.

A further object, in this connection, is t9 provide a puncturing meansmounted upon' the bot-` tom of that portion of the device which receivesthe can of oil so that when the attendant or owner lnverts the can ofoil within the holder .and forces the can downward, the can will be lpunctured and the contents will ow downward through the breather pipeinto the crank case,

the can remaining in this position until it-'is entirely drained of oil.

l A further vobject is to provide means for puncturing the top of thecan to permit the inlet of i air so that the oil may now and, in thisconnection, to provide a top for the can holder so designed that itconstitutes thetop of the breather pipe as it were, and permits theinlet of air under normal circumstances,v this cap being provided with aspike whereby the top of the can may be punctured.

Afurther object is torprovide a device of this character which issodesigned as to fit any autol mobile engine and which will permit a roundysealed quart can of oil to be inserted readily and as readily removedwithout chance of the operator soiling his lingers. Y

Other objects will appear in thecourse of the following description.

My invention isillustrated in the accompany- 5 ing drawing wherein:

Figure vl is a vertical sectional View through a can holder opener andbreather pipe extension Constructed in accordance with my invention, aportion of the breather pipe being shown in 10 section.

Figure 2 is a section at right angles to the section shown in Figure l,this view showing a can of oil disposed within the holder and the cap inplace to puncture the top of the can of oil. 15

Figure 3 is a plan view of the holder, the cap and can being removed.

Figure 4 is an elevation showing a slightly modified form of can holderand breather pipe extension. 20

Referring to this drawing, I Il designates a cylindrical can holder-andbreather pipe extension which is of metal or any other suitable materialand which is formed with a conical or downwardly and centrally inclinedbottom II '25 and terminates at' its lower end in a downwardly extendingneck I2, which is adapted to be inserted withinthe upper end of abreather pipe I3.

At the lower end of the conical portion Il there is attached to the wallof the-portion I2 a cutter 30 which is of still sheet metal. Y'I'his hasa portion I4 which. conforms in curvature to the curvature of the neckI2 for a portion of the width oi the cutter and itis f ormed to providetwo inwardly lcurved wings I 5 which extend across the opening 354 I6leading' from the body of the can holder into the neck I2. .The upperend of the cutter is upwardly and medially inclined at II from each wingI5 so as to form a sharp-edged and sharp pointed prong so that when acan of oil is dis- 40 posed within the holder I0 and frced downward,this cutter will cut a curved opening within the top of the can. Theresistance oiered to the cutting of the can willA tend to force themetal cut out by the edges II ,upward so that oil will 45 readily iiowfrom the can through the spout formed by the portion I4 and the wingsI5, this oil discharging through the openings `I6 and neck i2 into thebreather pipe I3 and so into the crank case in the usual and ordinarymanner. 50

For the purpose of puncturing the top of the can to permit the inletofair, I provide a cap or cover designated generally I8 and shown inFigure 2, as in place upon the top of the can. This cover, when a canhas been drained of its oil, rests 55 I 0. This cylindrical can holderwhen the can has III) been drained of oiland removed, constitutes anextension of the breather pipe I3 and the cap I8 -constitutesthen abreather pipe cap. To this end, this cap is formed with the innercircular wall I9 which extends upward to the top of the capand thetop-of the cap is carried downward and outward to form a skirt 20, therebeing openy ings 2| through this wall I9 into the space defined by orerhung by the skirt 20. Thus air can pass up from beneath the skirt 20,pass through the openings 2| and pass downward through the breatherpipe. The cap I8 may be formed to filter the air thus passing into thebreather pipe and to that end may/be -provided with a loose Ipacking ofcopper wool or the like, though I do not wish to be limited to this.

For the purpose 'of puncturing the can, I have providedA the cap I8 witha spike 22 which is afxed to the cover and extends downward therethroughso that when acan is inserted within the holder I and the cap ,I8 ismounted on top punctured, will force the can downward upon the -4 cancutterll. Wheny this has been done, the cap I8 is removed and then, ofcourse, oil will flow downward through the punctured bottonir of the.can into the breather pipe. After the can has been entirely' drained oioil, the can may be re- I moved from the holder and the cap put in placeupon the top of the holder whereupon it acts like the usual cap to abreatherpipe. l

Inasmuch as the bottom of the usual oil can is Vila-t, the puncture atthe center of the can will not drain oi all the oil, and for the purposeyof saving this oil, which does not drain out through the centralopening, I provide a spike or prong4 23 which extends upward from theupper end of the conical portion II closely adjacent the side bom-,0m Ilinterne opening le.

wall.

When the can is forced downward against the cutter I4, the bottom of thecan will also-be punctured by the spike 23, but no oil will flow out ofthis puncture becausethe spikeI 23 willI act as a plug. Y If however,there should be some slight leakage of oil, this will run down theinclined with my structure to secure practically every particle of oilthat there is in the can, and without any danger of the oil beingcontaminated or adulterated, or a poor grade of oil being substitutedfor a good grade. a

In Figure 4, I have shown a slight modiication of the neck I2 in whichthe neck instead of extending straight downward, extends laterallyoutward, as at IZa, and then downward, as at I2b. This modificationpermits my device to be used on those cars in which it is necessary tooset the can holder from the breather pipe in order.

. to get room for the can holder.

It will be seen that I have provided means adapted to be detachablymounted upon the ordinary breather pipe whereby a can of oil may be heldwhile it is draining. and whereby the bottom apegarse of thecan and thetop of the can too may be l punctured to permit the discharge of oil.

It will be seen that the oil can holder which 'I constitutes anextension of the breather pipe is Ycovered when not in use, thus keepingout dirt and grit. 'Ihe can' may be left to drain within the holderwithout any attention and without any danger of falling and in themeanwhile, 'other car services maybe performed. 'I'he device eliminatesthe likelihood of spilling oil on fenders, motors and other' parts, andwhile it is particularly adapted for canned oil, yet it' is alsoperfectly capableof being used for bulk oil as it constitutes a funnelor hopper-shaped receiving end for the breather pipe. t

With my construction, it will be seen that thev oil will have plenty ofroom to back up should air in the oil chamber` of the motor cause it toflow more slowly down the breather pipe thanit does out of the can.'I'his 'is permitted. by the space between the bottom of the can, whichrests upon the holder at the upper end of the inclined portion II, andthe bottom of the holder. 'I'he neck may, ofcourse, be constructed to tany standard size of breather pipe and the holder itself to receive thelower end of any size can.

While I- have illustrated the holder as cylindrical in form, it isobvious that it might be rectangular in plan, without departing from thespirit of the invention. i

`wane I have illustrated the cutter was being' made separate from rtheneck I2, it is to be understood that this cutter III might be integralwith the Wall I2 or II,l and that I do not wish to be limited to theparticular construction illustrated,

except asdened in the claims. .1

What is claimed is:- 1. An oil can holder for automobiles including abody adapted to receive the lower end of an oil can, the lowerend of thebodyextending downward and centrally, the lower end of the downwardlyand centrally extending portion having a downwardly extending neckadapted to be inserted within the oil pipe of a motor, the body having adiameter such that the oil can will rest upon the upper end ,of thedownwardly and centrally inclined portion, and a cutter extendingstraight upward from the neck at the junction of the neck with thedownwardly inclined portion, the cutter conforming to the curvature ofth'e neck and the side margins of the cutter being bent inward .toextend partly-across the opening of the neck.\

2. An oil can holder including a body portion adapted to receive an oilcan, lthe lower end of the body portion being downwardly and centrallytapered and terminating in a neck portion adapted to extend downwardinto the oil intake of an engine crank case, the lower end of thedownwardly tapering portion being provided with an upwardly projectingcutter formed to cut an opening in the bottom ofthe oil can at thecenter thereof when the can is forced downward into the holder, theupper end of the downwardly tapering portionof the holder being providedwith an upwardly projecting spike located closely adjacent the wall ofthe holder whereby to puncture the bottom of

